Knowing that most of my friends and family have limited vacation time, I looked for more accommodating options, like weekend trips! Lucky for me, a few friends from Sacramento drove down to LA for a weekend getaway. Here is what we got up to.

We started our girls’ weekend with the classics: shopping and mimosas! We explored the surprisingly cute downtown Fullerton, CA area. There were lots of shops like the one picture here, Sevenly, where everything is hand-made by female artisans in other countries. The dollars spent in these stores would support women in developing countries. Pretty amazing!

We also stopped off at some great bars and restaurants, like Ginza Sushi. Super delicious and the happy hour prices were fantastic. After sushi, we went to Downtown Disney for some drinks and to pick up a few pairs of Mickey Mouse ears. We were heading to Disneyland the next day!

I had not been to Disneyland in 6 years, and although I grew up only 45 minutes away from Anaheim, CA, I have only been to Disneyland about 5 times in my life. I was excited to go back, especially since the park would be decorated for Christmas. I purchased a One-Day Park Hopper ticket for $155 (yikes, prices keep rising!) and off we went! We were in line before the park gates opened and ready for a full day of Disney adventures!

We visited during the Disneyland Marathon, so we met up with our Disney-loving friend David who was participating in three races over the weekend. He is a Disneyland expert and gave us some great tips. While we were there Space Mountain (aka the best ride ever) was closed as it was being converted into Hyper Space Mountain (George Lucas’ Star Wars themed ride). We were all pretty bummed that we wouldn’t be able to go on the ride, but David stepped in and saved the day when he told us that it was secretly open! Although it was posted as closed, they were really doing test runs of the new ride. Lucky for us, the wait was super short and we were able to get a speak peak of the ride! We went on it twice back-to-back! Needless to say, it was amazing! Definitely check it out next time you are at Disneyland. Thanks, David!

Some other notable rides where Carsland (My first time! And my car won the race!), Tower of Terror, and the Matterhorn (they changed up the seating since I had last gone on this ride and it was super uncomfortable. We all came out with aching backs! I’ll skip this one next time).

We stayed at the park from open until close, 15 hours in total! If you plan on staying as long as we did, definitely be sure to have a few essentials:

• A backpack – such a great way to relieve stress on your back. I brought my small Longchamp one, the same one I take hiking. Here is a cute option.
• Comfy shoes – I rocked some Ked’s. I have a few pairs and I can always trust them to get me through a long day of walking. Plus I love that they partner up with Taylor Swift and Kate Spade for designs. Fashion meets function. Check them out here.
• An external charger – such a life-saver when you have been taking pictures and Snap Chats all day and need to call an Uber at midnight. The Mophie chargers are ultra thin and light weight. Pick one up here.
• Food and drinks – did you know that you can bring food and drinks into Disney! Save yourself $5 on a bottle of water and just bring your own and refill throughout the day! Granola bars are also a great way to curb hangriness while waiting in line for Indiana Jones!

Well it was an awesome weekend getaway, even though I was only 45 minutes from home! Oh, and happy 60th Anniversary, Disneyland!

-TM

Where should my next weekend getaway be to? Let me know.